Strategy
PokerStars on FanDuel and WSOP NJ lead the pack of several sites to choose from to play online poker in New Jersey. “Michigan and New Jersey joining forces is great news for our players in these two states, and poker, more generally,” said PokerStars US Managing Director, Severin Rasset, at the time. That’s caused a problem as poker has a massive following in the Hoosier State and many of those players would love to play online. That applies to both online poker and live poker, meaning if you want to play cards legally and live in Georgia, you’ll have to travel to Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Mississippi to get some action. We mention the tourism part because that is a big part of why tournaments at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel’s in Tampa and Hollywood (north of Miami) get thousands of players.
BetRivers Poker is clean, intuitive Run It Once–built software makes learning and playing easy, while the low rake and soft player pools create a welcoming environment for new players. These include software quality, game variety, player traffic, mobile compatibility, deposit and withdrawal options, customer support, and overall value. If you’re new to online poker, choosing the right site can make a huge difference to your experience. Backed by Phil Galfond and Phil Hellmuth, it delivers a smooth and player-focused experience with strong software and fair rake.
The UIGEA went into full effect in 2010 and did not exclude games of skill like poker despite lobbying efforts from the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). While poker was booming, a piece of legislation was about to question the legality of online poker in the United States. Following Chris Moneymaker’s iconic victory in the 2003 Main Event, poker sponsorships were going around like crazy and ads for big online poker brands like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker couldn’t be avoided. In a new PokerNews video essay, we take a look at Black Friday, the darkest day in poker history that forever altered the online poker landscape and uncovered widespread mismanagement by some of poker’s biggest names. Yes, while real-money gaming is restricted throughout the United States, free play money options are open to most.
We cannot stress enough how crucial it is to avoid unlicensed poker sites, even if you’re in a grey market. Some offer highly responsive live chat, while others are contactable via email or web form. We’ve reported live from the WSOP, worked with every major operator in the business, and built one of the most trusted brands in poker. BetMGM is a huge brand in the gambling industry, and this extends across to poker as well.
- On April 20th, both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that allowed them to regain the use of their dot-com sites to help distribute player funds.
- Of all the states looking to legalize online poker, New York stands out as one of the biggest states in the country that could bring much-needed shared liquidity to US online poker.
- Black Friday provided an opportunity for state-regulated online poker sites after several rulings that the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 did not apply to online poker.
As a result, there was no one to hold them accountable when misconduct, such as the infamous cheating scandal at UB, victimized players. Without proper legalization and regulation, online poker sites operate without much oversight. As one of the most conservative states in the country, Utah does not offer online or live poker and don’t hold your breath for that to change any time soon. There is no online poker in Texas and the state has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country. There is no online or live poker in Tennessee and it seems unlikely that either will be reaching the state any time soon.
“People told me that they observed his kindness and compassion towards other players as they exited. The difference between players who win and the very biggest winners. They will get you closer to the right answer in the real games you are actually playing. Then I decided to get into a very thin call-down spot against the one other player at the table who could actually play ball. Against those players, you need a river plan before you call the turn.
According to state law, the game is deemed illegal and that isn’t going to change any time soon. Gambling in general is not a priority of the hardcore Christian conservative movement, which is active in Georgia, As such, poker is not legal in any form in Georgia, and is considered a misdemeanor to engage in unregulated gambling. Online poker and live poker are both legal in Connecticut, but there are some issues with it so don’t get ahead of yourself just yet. Arkansas has never been a state with politicians who will push forward much in the way of pro-gambling legislation, especially when it comes to poker.
My types of mistakes in PLO are not reraising, four-betting, and all that stuff – it’s just playing too many hands, which is fine. The way I would describe it is that preflop, when you’re playing no-limit hold’em, you can make some really big mistakes. Josh Arieh is really the one who fine-tuned my PLO game over the last couple of years. Who has had the biggest influence on your PLO game? There was only one tournament, the $25K, where I had to re-enter. Daniel Negreanu has made it crystal clear that pot-limit Omaha (PLO) is his game right now.
Since PocketFives Live only covered the members of the online community, we also had a lot more latitude than other outlets. On my first day I remember the time for the first post was drawing near and I just sat at the computer afraid I would mess it up. Your first WSOP job was near the bottom of the poker-media ladder, but you treated it as an opportunity to prove you belonged. The behaviors I observed and wrote about certainly happened at the series, so I guess I didn’t get anything ‘wrong’ per se? However, if you are asking about my academic research, the paper I had written was about non-verbal communication among poker cohorts, so that really didn’t address the scope of the WSOP. Along the way, she found a place for herself in an industry that often had a very narrow idea of what a woman in poker media was supposed to look like and do.
Maine officially legalized online gaming and poker in January through the state’s four federally-recognized tribes. GGPoker currently has the world’s largest online poker community, followed by PokerStars. 888poker is well-known for its soft games and beginner-friendly features. These platforms use secure encryption and follow strict player protection policies, including responsible gambling tools. WPT Global and PartyPoker also have cashback options that reward volume players.
This gives beginners more of a genuine chance to compete and win in both cash games and tournaments. The poker site features good cash game liquidity and steady MTT schedules, plus shared player pools for better traffic. Backed by GGPoker and the iconic World Series of Poker, WSOP Online offers a mix of cash games and marquee events like Online Circuit and Bracelet series.
When is the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2026?
After a year and a half of silence, Lederer spoke to PokerNews in a lengthy interview published as the seven-part series The Lederer Files in 2012. Bonuses, promotions, availability, legal status, payment methods, and operator terms may change at any time. Online poker will likely never be fully legal in the United States as a whole.
Joe McKeehen Wins 2026 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship
My mission for the final table is to feel good, look good, and play good, kind of thing, right? I was fifth overall out of eleven players left. What people don’t understand is you can’t be a tight player or a loose player or a gambling player. Against better players, yes, it can.
Both bills explicitly include online poker, making them some of the most straightforward proposals in recent years. Massachusetts is another state revisiting online poker in 2025, with two separate bills — HD 4084 in the House and SD 2240 in the Senate. Indiana already has a strong online sports betting market, so adding online poker seems like a logical next step. Indiana was once a frontrunner for US online poker legalization, but a corruption scandal in 2023 put everything on hold. If passed, Wyoming could become an interesting addition to the US online poker scene. Wyoming might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of US online poker, but a new bill—House Bill 162—aims to change that.
Minnesota does sport a modest casino and poker culture with 23 brick and mortar casinos, many of which accept patrons who are 18 and over, although some are for ages 21 and up. Since PokerStars led the way, many other operators entered the multi-state compact and began sharing player pools across states, the latest being the addition of BetRivers Poker in June 2025. On January 1, 2023, PokerStars became the first operator to link their Michigan player pool with another state. Most of Massachusetts’ gaming sphere might be new, but it’s showing rapid progression with its land-based casinos and sports betting. Maryland is another state that has expanded land-based gambling offerings with six casinos. The Bluegrass State has taken an even tougher stance against online gaming.
For an artist whose career has been built on observing human behavior, poker proved to be one of the richest and most fascinating subjects Smit had ever encountered. “This whole time I’d been doing small-scale drawings that had a lot of text, and it had a lot of humorous aspects. Celebrated cartoonist Guy Richards Smit found unexpected inspiration at the WSOP, where poker’s greatest skill mirrored his own craft.
The bill has been assigned to the House Committee on Public Policy, which Manning chairs, so it has a good chance of at least making it to a vote this time around. With fewer than 600,000 residents, Wyoming would struggle to sustain a poker market on its own, so linking up with other states is essential. After all, if passed, this bill would mark the first real attempt to bring sweepstakes gaming under state regulation — a move that could set a precedent for other states. However, the bill will likely face resistance from New Jersey’s existing gambling industry at some point.
All I really care about is someone who loves and represents the game in the best way possible. But if not them, I think Jumalon would be a very good ambassador of the game. Stick with PokerOrg for all the biggest hands and moments from poker’s biggest showcase and beyond. Has this Main Event run reignited your passion to play a bit more during the year?
Thanks to its shared-liquidity network than spans multiple states, player pools for both cash games and tournaments are consistently large. So, we’ve given you the best poker sites for newbies, but what about the best sites for experienced players, MTT grinders or the value hunters looking for the top online bonuses? The poker rooms below represent our top recommendations for players taking their first steps into online poker. The software is stable and the loyalty program links with MGM Rewards, adding value for live casino players too. WPT Global gives players a direct route to the World Poker Tour, with online qualifiers feeding into major live events.
Security is minimal, if it exists at all, and the app games are a nightmare of shadowy ‘agents’ moving money around (and sometimes disappearing with it). Top poker players still worry what others think. BetMGM Poker ambassador and four-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion Darren Elias said that adding a large market like Pennsylvania “is a huge milestone in continued expansion and provides the opportunity to compete against more players and for larger prize pools.” Pennsylvania officially became the sixth state to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) on Wednesday as Governor Josh Shapiro gave his final approval on the online poker agreement. Ten events start on Sunday alone, giving players plenty of options from mid-stakes bounty events to nosebleed high rollers. However, we still advise players to familiarize themselves with the practices of responsible gambling and educational value of the respected organizations above.
Backed by a respected casino brand and offering easy access to promotions and support, you can’t go wrong with Borgata Poker. The only site where you can win real WSOP bracelets online in the United States is WSOP Online. The WPT Global deposit bonus and free tournament tickets are generous, but the real appeal lies in its tournament ecosystem. PartyPoker is ideal if you want balanced action, steady rewards, and a friendly environment without predatory play.
States such as Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey are fully regulated and legal for online poker. To excel at poker and become a successful player, one of the things that you will need to pay close attention to is bankroll management. Some of the poker tournaments award huge cash prizes to the winners. Poker fans will do anything to win big cash prizes, including entering top poker tournaments. Video gaming and poker were once dismissed as the pastimes of wastrels and no-goods, but the glitz of these activities is shared by well over 700 million people globally.
Part of the BetMGM network, Borgata Poker is focused on NJ and PA players. Available in Nevada, NJ, PA, and MI, it’s a must-play for US tournament fans and legacy hunters, along with cash game grinders alike. Licensed in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, BetMGM Poker is a top option for American players. With excellent support and easy deposits through PayPal, Visa, and bank transfer, Bet365 is ideal for players who want simplicity, consistency, and security in every session. But don’t mistake that for thinking 88poker isn’t also a top site for those who play the game for a living. The platform caters to both casual players and high-stakes pros, with innovative tools like built-in staking, bubble protection, and smart HUD features.
The online poker site – or “sweepstakes” site as they would call it… Read more » And while we’ve become one of the most comprehensive guides to online poker, our main mission remains the same as it was when we started. A classic poker game that does not involve a flop and is often played as a limit game. Omaha poker is an action game often played as a pot-limit or fixed-limit game PokerStars remains fully operational and player funds remain secure during the transition.
The top sites offer numerous deposit methods, charge little fees, and process those transfers as quickly as possible so players can launch into poker action right away. But the number of poker sites available to Americans, for example, is much smaller than poker players in Canada and Europe. A lot of players put themselves behind the eight ball because they enter re-entry tournaments in Las Vegas while telling themselves they will only buy in for one bullet. Best-selling author and professional poker player Alex Fitzgerald shares how to reassess your game to be prepared for next year’s WSOP summer series. I wish him and all the final table players the joy and thrill of it that I was so fortunate to have.
Its global reach, diverse player base, and nonstop action make it the go-to platform for anyone www.pokernewsdaily.com seeking high-volume games at every stake level. If you want to find a game quickly and easily, or play large-field tournaments with bumper prizepools, BetMGM Poker is a great choice. BetRivers Poker might be one of the newest online poker sites around, but it’s already making a big impression on the market. It is focused on returning a high share of rake to players via its iRush Rewards programme, which can deliver 40 %–75 % rake-back at top VIP levels.
It’s a game where I think that people have this completely backward. A lot of people look at PLO and think it’s basically a ton of gambling with four cards. Sure, deep-stacked you can be adding some limps into your game.
THMC London is back for 2025, featuring bigger guarantees, trophy events, and a Cape Town package for the Main Event champion. Chad Eveslage backed up his reputation by taking down one of the biggest freerolls in poker, the $1,000,000 PGT Championship, for a $500,000 reward. Andrew Lichtenberger started the 2026 PokerGO Tour right where he left off, winning the opening event and setting the pace for the season. Shaun Deeb took home his ninth World Series of Poker bracelet after coming out with flying colors from the $1,500 8-Game Mix, moving close to an all-time WSOP record. Did you know about our poker forum?
You can find all these answers on our legal gambling guides which are catered for those new to the scene as well as seasoned veterans. Online poker is making a comeback in the U.S. 15 years after Black Friday, thanks in no small part to the PokerStars on FanDuel launch. Within days after launching the poker site, a $5 million guaranteed Ignite Series beginning April 18 was announced. Scheinberg avoided prison time and had to pay a fine of just $30,000, bringing the Black Friday saga to a close nearly a decade later. In March 2020, PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg pleaded guilty to running an unlawful internet gambling business. Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson of Full Tilt Poker are considered pariahs in the poker community to this day, though Ferguson appeared at the 2017 World Series of Poker and wound up winning the Player of the Year distinction to the dismay of the community.